Deadly mosquito-borne pandemic poses a greater threat to humankind than global war and could easily wipe out 10 MILLION

Bill Gates: At the top of the list of things I worry about, the risk of a very serious pandemic is quite substantial. If you say what could kill 10 million people – yes a war could, but a pandemic is probably even more likely to come and surprise us in that way.

In 1918, the flu pandemic killed 250,000 people in Britain and 65 million around the world – three times as many as World War I. If it was to hit today, it would have even more severe effects, considering how quickly it can spread between people.

The deadly flu virus attacked more than one-third of the world’s population, and within months had killed more than 65 million people – three times as many as the World War I – and did it more quickly than any other illness in recorded history.

To maintain morale, wartime censors minimized early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, Britain, France, and the United States.

However, newspapers were free to report the epidemic’s effects in Spain, creating a false impression of Spain as being especially hard hit – and leading to the pandemic’s nickname Spanish flu.
The close quarters and massive troop movements of World War I hastened the pandemic and probably both increased transmission and augmented mutation, researchers believe.

The global mortality rate from the 1918/1919 pandemic is not known, but an estimated 10 per cent to 20 per cent of those who were infected died, with estimates of the total number of deaths ranging from 50 to 100 million people.

The next pandemic will happen – it’s not a matter of if it will happen, but a matter of when.

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5 responses to Deadly mosquito-borne pandemic poses a greater threat to humankind than global war and could easily wipe out 10 MILLION

Oren June 30th, 2017 at 12:04 pm

There is an interesting book out by Cat Ellis, “Prepping for a Pandemic”. Gives a pretty thorough approach to protecting you and your family. Basically, hunker down, quarantine yourself and do not allow anyone in. Otherwise, the pandemic is going to progress and kill no matter what. Call it “thinning the herd” although I realize that is a callus way of looking at it.

Jeanne June 30th, 2017 at 11:45 am

As person who lives in Fl. I have known about diseases like this for a while. I have horses and learned about them from veterinarian. While working at a small hospital I had patients that had diseases. Zika is now new it’s been around for years.

JP in MT June 30th, 2017 at 11:31 am

Caroline June 30th, 2017 at 11:10 am

My grandmother came from Italy to Ellis Island in 1918 at the age of 6. She could recall the intense medical checkup at the island just to get through to the next stage. Her mother threatened that if she coughed or acted sick and they were sent back to Italy, she would be left to her own devices and her mother would never forgive her. That was my great-grandmother’s idea of child rearing. But, my grandmother told me it was because of the flu pandemic and even at her young age, she understood the ramifications of the threat.

We live in a global society, whether we like it or not. A flu pandemic here is more of a reality now than it has ever been before. We no longer have a “place” to go to to get away from it. It will get to us, sooner or later.